ok so i started the build last night. Worked on it for about 4 hours. We got all the surfaces hindged and ready to go. Hindging was fairly easy. Flaps will a little bit different. The manual said that the surface was suppsto be flat but they are not. The drilled holes are a little off. So they are not flush with the contour of the top of the wing. But they line up with the edge closer to center. But no big deal. I left a little gap in the ailerons so i could get maximum throw if i ever wanted it.

The retracts. Went pretty well. I used the spektrum servo A7000 for the servo and I would highly recommend them over the factory ones alot more tq. As for the servo horn it calls for its not right. The 9mm hole it wants will not work. I had to expierment with horns till i found soemthing that will work. I just took the 4 way cross it came with and cut it down to 1 arm and used the 2nd outter hole from the center. And that worked perfectly. I also reinforced the landing gear mount area. I treated all the wood with ca and let it dry so it is super stiff and will not break. I dont know if triangle stock is needed here but i will address that later.

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Ok spent another few hours on it again. Got the retracts to work correctly or enough. Had to make some modifications to make both work on a y harnesses. But got both to close properly and lock in. mounted the gear doors they don't look the same on each side. But again its an ARF not a Kit. A lot of modifications are needed to make them look the same on each side.

I called horizon about the wing issues and the retract mounts not being the same on each side. They said they would send me a wing but they are back ordered till june.

I started work on the aileron servo mounts those went well but again issues with the servo horn again. the measurements in the manual for the horn is not right at all. So we just improvised and made a horn and made it work. The horn mounting on the aileron surface was easy. But mounting the linkage was a little of a pain to get the 90 just right to mount in the servo horn. pics of the wing fully done will come soon.

ok worked on it some more. Got the wings completely finished and all servos and retracts mounted. One key is to mark your servo wires so you can identify them. I marked the servo security clips so i know what servo they are. You have 3 servo's in there. the servo mounts for flaps and ailerons leaves something to be desired but i guess those little screws will hold the servo it. i added 2mm washers to them to make sure they hold.

mounted the rear stab and got all the servos installed and linkages set up. Tail wheel was a little of a pain to setup but if you have small fingers you are ok. If not ask for some help. The linkages are a pain to bend. But we used a butane torch to heat the rods up and they bended nicely. That works a lot better. Also you want to screw on the clevises before you mount the rod to the servo so you can pull out the the wire from the access hole to twist them on.

Got all that squared away. Then started to assemble the plane. Again instructions are wrong. I guess i have the new mk III beta version as the manual doesn't align with the scoop. I have a hook that needs to be epoxied on one of the wings and the manual says that the scoop bolts on. Also the magnets are reversed and you have to dig them out to flip them. they come repelling each other how lame.

I will try to get some pics up tonight. But today looks better weather so i think I'm going to try to fly a little today. It was crappy all yesterday

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Ok engine arrived last thrusday and was installed friday. Installation was pretty simple. I just used the mounting holes for the saito 1.20 and just centered over those holes and everything came out good. I think if i was to remount again I would get right of the blind nuts and buy washers and regular nuts and just use thread lock. The blind nuts are kinda cheap quality. Since you have to dig into the triangle brace on the one side for the blind nut its recommended that you start them with the mount on the bolt to pull in the blind nuts otherwise the nut will jack sideways and thats no good.

After getting the holes drilled and blind nuts secured the engine looks good. I drilled a separate hole for running the fuel tubing to the carb and that worked out good. I moved the mounting of the fuel tank also. I put the tank pretty much on the cg spot. On the shelf where the throttle servo will go. I have seen first hand the effects an empty tank can have on cg and i do not want to loose a plane to that. I have my fuel tank on cg in my 27% extra and have no issues.

I started to mount the electronics and make things neat. I mounted the receiver on the underside of the tank along with the bec. I started to set up the radio. Took me about 3 hours to set up the flaps. but once i set up the correct wing type 1 aileron and 2 flaps it was easy. I was trying to mix them together and that wasn't working very well. Sorry noob mistake. But got them working finally.

I will post some more pics tomorrow. Also i have put in another order for batteries and other nick nac's for the plane that i will need prop fuel filling valve and what not. I would like to fire it up this coming weekend and just test everything before flying.

Any suggestions on anything so far guys. What would you recommend as far as a starter goes. Its a dle 20cc but has a fairly large nose cone for the one that comes with it. What you think i should do. or would hand starting it be ok with the 16in prop???

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ok got the radio all set up for the most part. I have all the trims set up and my 3 rates set up for the time being. I will make adjustments if needed on the radio after flying if i don't like the rates i will change them, that goes with expo as well. But i think I have everything dialed in. All I'm waiting on now is a prop 17x8 and 2 batts for the plane 1 for ignition and 1 for electronics

any suggestions on flaps for taking off or landing positions. Or is it just a feel thing and trial and error?

As far as spinners anyone changing the factory one out for a different one or are you all just using the factory one?

I had one of these, there are a couple of threads around, quite a big ones, lots of problems with the kit, but when it is sorted it is nice to fly.
here is one of them, http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_86..._1/key_/tm.htm quite a bit to read, but when you sort through all the bull there is some good info.
first off tilt your undercarriage forward a bit, fit some spacers under the back of the mounts, it improves ground handling. this model will nose over very easily, also beef up the mounts, keep an eye on the wheels, the originals tended to break up.
you are running a Gas engine, they are more economical, so use a smaller tank and move it back as close to the CofG as you can, also to improve ground handling and reduce flying weight.
read the other threads and get the "real" CofG, the book is too far back, plus the book throws are ridiculous, especially for the elevators, this thing will snap like a dog if you give it too much elevator. (tailplane stall, flick upside down and go into a spin)
there was a serious lack of glue on the earlier kits, so add glue to every joint you can get to,
beef up the engine box, put a fibre glass skin over and around all the joints.
I didnt use flaps for take off, but I did for landing, this is a heavy model for its size but it is nice to fly, just watch out for the CofG and elevator throws, make sure you have flight speed before you lift off and keep the speed up during flight, especially until you get used to it, but it was quite nice to land. I had a 120 f/s in mine, that was a good combination.
Oldtimer.

Last edited by oldtimer47; Apr 04, 2012 at 07:11 PM.
Reason: more info

yea I've read that thread a lot. lots of good info. I know to put the cg at 4.5 inches instead of 4.75 Also I'm using a 12cc tank and on the cg as well instead of in the engine box. I CA'd the crap out of the mounting blocks for the landing gear is that enough?? I have also epoxied the engine box inside and out just because I'm using gas engine and don't want gas seeping into the wood. Also the box does have triangle stock in the front of the engine box. should i beef if up more?

No for the landing gear you want to tilt the wheels more forward by putting wood under the rear mount for the gear?

hi, just looked up some of my old posts, 4.5 inches from the centre line of the wing sounds good, from memory I only had about 10mm of up throw on the elevator, I know it was sensitive, also I set my elevators level to the bottom of the tail plane, there seemed to be a slight incidence problem, from the forum most flew with slight down elevator,
I think I used at least 1 paddle pop stick under the back of the U/C mounts to tilt them forward, it could have been more, they still retract up into the wing OK,
have a look at video of real 51's on take off or landing, the wheels are right forward,
you say a 12cc tank, do you mean 12ounce tank, run the engine at full power for your normal flight time, I fly 10 to 12mins max, see how much fuel it uses, any extra fuel is just more flying weight.
just remember to get it up to speed before lift off.
Oldtimer.

yea 12oz tank sorry. I reinforced the gear. I tied the mounts into the wing ribs with plywood plates and epoxy. Im gonna taxi around the model around a bit and see how the gear works. I have issues with the left gear mount. the mounts are not installed correctly and the left wing wheel comes super close to the front of the wheel well. HH is shipping me a new wing but I'm just using what i got.

I had a guy in my club look it over and he gave me pointers on what to do and reinforce. I reinforced the whole firewall i epoxied the entire fire wall inside and out. for strength. i also epoxied in the wing blind nuts also to make sure they didn't come out. i also ca'd a bunch of joints since they are only hot glued together from factory.

I put the canopy together and mounted all the stuff and the guy. I used a thunder tiger 1/6 scale WWII pilot and he looks good.

i got the motor fired up yesterday. had a little trouble getting it started for the first time. The carb would not pump fuel. I had to squirt a little into the car and get the engine to fire to be able to pull fuel in. I've read that is normal for first start. Now it pumps fuel fine. Engine seems to run good. I set up where it needs to be to idle and so i can use throttle cut to cut the engine.

Everything is coming together good. I'll post a few more pics later today. Im waiting on the pitts muffler now to install the cowl.

Are the factory holes in the cowl enough for cooling or do i need to add more??